By Atty. J. Edward Pawlick
May 2001

Every time someone is treated unfairly in a courtroom, there seems to be a “poverty lawyer” lurking somewhere in the background.

These Luisi children are just another example. They are being torn from their father by a poverty lawyer.

Just imagine you are Judge Stahlin and a lawyer approaches the bench and says, “Good morning, your Honor. I am attorney Ruth Diaz from the Hale and Dorr Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School. I represent Carrie Luisi.”

In the first place, you know that this lawyer is special because she has the blessing of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts (your boss) because they are the ones who decide to give this group our state money. Plus it’s someone from Harvard Law School (which can make you famous). And it’s someone who comes with the blessing of Hale and Dorr, one of the richest law firms in the state.

What judge could hold against her?

But maybe we can turn this around to our good. Perhaps we can solve the overcrowding in our courts if we’re smart enough to realize what’s happening here. Why even bother with a trial? Why not just have the good people at the Hale and Dorr Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School simply send a note to the judge telling him that they have found that Carrie Luisi is the party with God on her side and he should decide the case in her favor. It sure would save a lot of time if we avoided the pretense of a trial.

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